Ib Alternative: Is It Real Now, A Suspense Fic
by Sonata-Time-Flare-Nocturne-Aoi
Summary: One Shot Complete! Garry finds himself in trouble when he is sudden thrown into a strange world within his own painting. What becomes of our fated hero, and how did this all begin? Rated M.


**Story**: Ib Alternative: Is It Real Now, A Suspense Fic  
**Author**: Nocturne  
**Written**: July 26th, 2019  
**Genre**: Suspense/Horror  
**Rating**: M  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own the game or its characters dealing into such a fateful encounter.

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**{One Shot}**

**I: Fontis**

It was a Saturday night like none other. The steady rain drizzled with the cool autumn air of an unknown town provided a fine balance of calm and mystery within the outside world. Sitting in the comfort of his bedroom in his humble home is our subject, known to most as Garry. With most of the day's activity winding down to a more relaxed atmosphere, Garry enjoys a recreational hobby of painting. His attention to his current work did not waver until his roommate Gene steps in to see what he was up to now.

"Garry, what are you still doing up?" Gene asks, all the while peeking to see what he was working on.

"What do you mean, it's only 11:58," Garry responds as he pauses and turns to look at his brother.

"We have things to do in the morning, namely visit that new art museum that's opening tomorrow. You need to go to bed," Gene states, turning to head back out of his room. Before the door closes behind him, one of the family's cats slips into his room, and hops on top of Garry's lap to cuddle for a moment, before taking its place on his desk to chill for the time being.

"_I'll head to bed when I'm ready_..." Garry says to himself, his eyes now wandering around his bedroom, a mounted painting above his bed being a primary object of interest. It was a replica painting of 'The Lady in Red' he had obtained from an eccentric friend from the art school he attends

"Hmm…I guess I could take a break and go and lay down now," Garry says, setting down his paintbrush and heading to his bed, laying on top of his blanket before turning off the light.

It wasn't long before he started hearing something…odd.

It was a strange, distant giggle that resonated from the vicinity of his bedroom. Figuring he was hearing things that weren't there, he ignores unknown noise and closes his eyes.

"_...Come..."_ the same voice then spoke, only louder and more audible. Garry's attention was immediately captured by the foreign voice that came from somewhere around him.

"What is that?" Garry spoke, opening his eyes and looking around his room for any evidence of the intruding noise.

Nothing.

Figuring it was just a temporary effect of his active imagination and complex curiosity, Garry takes a deep breath and closes his eyes once again.

The chiming of the grandfather clock in the den outside his room at midnight struck an uneasy feeling of tension down Garry's spine. All signs of movement suddenly ceases around him. The rustling of leaves brushing against his outside window…even the purring of his adorable kitty that sat on his desk next to him was suddenly frozen in time. Then, the power is suddenly cut all through the house.

"What…is going on…?" was what left his lips as he tried not to make any sudden movements, despite the fact that he could still somehow move on his own.

His legs steadily prepared to push himself off of his chair, and with a single motion he stood up. Taking a deep breath, Garry slowly maneuvers around his pitch black bedroom, hoping his eyes would adjust themselves quickly so he could at least navigate around without tripping over something.

"Okay…this has got to be some sort of bad dream…I don't even hear anyone out in the hallway commenting on this outage," Garry tells himself quietly, figuring his roommate would have been vocal about this occurrence by now.

When his eyes did focus in his favor against the darkness, he came to the conclusion that sticking around his own room wouldn't solve anything. Garry turns toward his door….

_**SNAP!**_

…when the portrait that hung over his bed suddenly breaks from its foundation and falls face down onto his bed.

A tiny girlish yelp echoed through the darkness as our protagonist spins around to see what just happened.

"That was…interesting…" Garry commented as he changes plans and proceeds to carefully walk over to his bed. Barely making out what was indeed his portrait of 'The Lady in Red, he grabs it with both hands and lifts it to check the front to see if nothing was horribly damaged.

A bolt of lightning illuminates the room from the outside for what it felt like an eternity as Garry's eyes flew wide open in shock. The front of his painting was not that of the innocent and graceful-looking woman that he was used to seeing, but instead a mirror with his reflection staring right back at him…

…and in that reflection with him was a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes standing behind him, covered in blood. The unknown girl lunges at him.

All that could be heard thereafter was Garry's cry for help, then a loud soul-wrenching 'SNAP' echoing through the air.

Then all was silent.

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**II: Avicus**

Silence embraced the atmosphere where the unconscious Garry lay. Bathed in nothing but darkness and comforted by the cold stone floor that he laid upon, something suddenly stimulates his senses. As the onset of pain throughout his body became subtly noticeable, this prompts him to stir and, in due time, open his eyes.

"What...happened...? Where...am I?" was all that Garry could muster as he carefully positioned himself upright, wincing in response to his aching joints.

The only illuminating object of interest in this darkness enshrouded locale was the smooth stone ground beneath him. Despite the warm and inviting light emitting off of the surface, the response that his natural senses gave out was not in agreement of how he was truly feeling.

"...Why do I get the feeling that I'm not in my hometown anymore?" Garry spoke out loud, attempting to make an effort to stand up.

Placing both of his hands on the ground beside him to give him some sort of balance before rising, something cold and icy...almost like a liquid made contact with his fingers.

Looking down to see what he had touched, he jumps once he realizes that the substance was none other than blood. After a small panic spell, he relies that a small pool of it had trickled toward his direction apparently, as a trail of it was smeared in a single direction away from.

Coming to the conclusion that it wasn't his own blood that had accumulated around him, Garry sighs, and, in a single motion, sprung to his feet to stretch.

"Okay...this is a dream. There is no other way around it. I'm dreaming right now, and I just need to wake up so all of this crap can end already," Garry spoke, attempting to get a bearing for his surroundings, but quickly found no such luck.

Garry then attempts to make contact with whomever may be in the vicinity.

"Hello? Anyone around here?"

No response.

It was expected actually, how often would one find themselves attacked by some strange person inside your own painting and then wake up on a blood covered plane of solid nothingness?

Then again…experiencing a nightmare with multiple parts to it isn't too far-fetched to begin with.

Left with no other options, Garry gives in to the fact that in order for him to move on with this supposed 'nightmare' and wake up back in the safety of his own bedroom, he would have to move forward.

"This isn't exactly the Yellow Brick Road, but I'm not going to sit around and wait around for some more random shit to happen to me. I am getting out of this place!" Garry spoke, trying, just a little, to make light of the situation, as he was really sure this whole incident he was experiencing was a just a series of ridiculous thoughts swimming through his nocturnal mind.

Taking the first step toward the trail of blood, Garry could help but get the feeling that something bad was going to happen. But he kept pressing forward, allowing his ever-so abundant curiosity to unconsciously drive him toward his freedom, or a path of regret and unspeakable punishment.

At the end of what seemed like a half-hours walk through the dark and dense pathway, Garry comes face to face with a blank, gold-framed portrait, suspended in midair.

As expected, the trail of blood had ended here.

Taking a moment to examine the floating frame from front to back, he takes note to some writing etched at the bottom portion of the frame.

"**Puniceus."**

"...What does that mean?" Garrys ask, wondering if this object belonged to someone or some_thing_ called 'Puniceus'.

Before he had realized it, something had suddenly appeared from behind him. Taking no chances to make any sudden moves, Garry stays perfectly still. It was bad enough that wherever this place actually was did not give him a necessarily positive first-impression upon awakening. But to have no indication of someone else approaching you from behind naturally makes the situation more intense.

The person then spoke softly to Garry in a soothing, yet cryptic tone.

"_Can I help you, visitor from the Imperfect World...?"_

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**III: ****Tertius**

Garry spun around in response to the velvet-laced words spoken to him from behind. Standing before him, just mere inches away, was a female cloaked in purple robes, her face concealed within the shadows of her hood.

"Who are you?!" Garry asks, still feeling tense after waking up next to the trail of blood upon his arrival earlier.

The young woman giggles, revealing that she was young, but mature due to her sultry undertones.

"Call me...Lilith," she states. "It's been awhile since I've seen someone enter into this world stay alive for this long," she adds.

"What IS this place?! Am I dreaming, or is this some sort of sick joke?!" Garry demands, his voice both trembling and filled with anger at the whole ordeal.

"You are in our Master's Gallery. An invitation by the 'Yellow Rose' has resulted in your capture," spoke Lilith.

"Yellow Rose...? Master's Gallery? This isn't making any sense! Why would anyone drag me down here in the first place?! Do I even know these people...?!" Garry questions her, wanting more concrete answers than cryptic explanations she was giving.

Lilith puts a hushing finger onto Garry's lips.

"You talk too much. Hysterical guys are quite amusing," she tells him.

Garry was now at a loss for words on what to say next. All he wanted was to get out of this nightmare and go home. What did he ever do to deserve such treatment?

"That reminds me..." Lilith began. "The Yellow Rose...you did not happen to see her along the way toward this location, have you?" she asks out of curiosity.

"Uh...no...I told you, I don't even know who these people even are!" Garry reaffirms to her.

"I see. Poor Mary..." Lilith laments with an essence of disinterest.

"Mary?" Garry asks.

"She was a good friend of mine. We used to laugh and play together...but, recently, she became jealous of a guy I've become friends with far away. She confronted me one day, and pleaded me to not see him anymore, for Mary wanted him for herself."

Lilith stops and smiles.

"One day, her lust for him drove her crazy, to the point that she tried to make an attempt on my life. My other half appeared at that very moment and killed Mary on the spot. Her bloodied body collapsed onto the ground, and together, my other half and I dragged her here to this picture frame that sits suspended in air," Lilith continues.

Garry gulps. He realizes he was shaking after listening to this woman's chilling story. He didn't know what to expect next...was he going to be targeted?

"...What...happened to her body?" Garry asks reluctantly.

Lilith gives Garry a sudden smile of creepiness.

"Forever immortalized in that very portrait behind you," Lilith speaks, pointing past Garry's shoulder.

Garry did not want to, but his body protested for him to do so.

He turns around.

"_Help...help...me...!~~"_

Garry turned white as a ghost as he gazed upon the once blank and empty portrait, now showing in an image of a young blonde-haired, blue eyed girl staring right back at him. Her spiritual cries for help echoed throughout the air.

"Isn't it beautiful? She will forever be part of our Master's Gallery. May her soul find eternal peace within the confides of this magic canvas. Doesn't she look happy?" Lilith asks Garry.

"You...you bastard! You sick bastard! Why would you do this to someone?! Locking their souls away in portraits, there's a better way to deal with people than this!" Garry protests, not realizing his increase in vocal volume as he turns back and faces Lilith once again.

"This is the will of our Master...the will of Marie and I," Lilith speaks, as a second female steps out from behind her and stands by her side. This female wore black, and her face too was concealed.

"It seems as though Garry here feels sorry for poor Mary. Maybe he wishes to free her soul imprisoned within the confides of our magic canvas," says Marie. "You may be her only ray of hope, for no one has once shed a tear for her death, let alone her well-being... not even her family."

"Indeed," replies Lilith.

Stepping forward toward Garry, both ladies head out their hands, and reveal two different colored roses. One was yellow, the other being red.

"I see you are conflicted on what is more important to you right now. We can feel it. That is why we decided to give you two options. We would like you to choose a rose. The yellow one represents Mary, whom you feel needs saving. Choosing this will also mean that you will never leave from this place..." Lilith explains.

"...While the red one represents your blood. Give us a sample of your blood for use to paint another portrait in your honor for visiting our gallery, and we will let you leave," Marie follows up.

"You can only choose one. The choice is yours," both ladies reply simultaneously.

Garry clenches his fists, anger burning in his eyes.

"This is so unfair! How do I know you won't go back on your word if I choose to leave here in exchange for my blood?!" Garry demands.

"Are you saying you do not care to save this girl's life? How selfish," says Marie.

"No, that's not what I'm implying!" Garry protests, hanging his head low from the situational pressure he's been dealt with. "Why are you making me choose?! Sure I would like to help her, but what significance does this Mary girl warrant me saving her and never being able to return to my home ever again?"

"You will have to find out for yourself. Is she any different than if a loved one were imprisoned here?" both ladies respond simultaneously.

Faced with an impossible decision, Garry had to make up his mind and choose. Even if he ran from the whole situation, he may as well end up being hunted down and murdered for his lack of cooperation. Just what kind kind of sick joke was this, and why Garry of all people? Both morals and feelings were tugging at his strings.

Struggling with his inner self, Garry lifts his head and comes to an immediately decision.

He takes hold of the yellow rose.

The remaining red rose begins to liquefy as it trickles between Lilith's fingers...it almost looked like blood. She clenches her hand into a first, then turns to Marie. Their smiles upon their faces looked of glee, which then turns to malicious intent as they gaze at Garry and began to speak as one:

"The time for sacrifice and resurrection has begun."

All went black before Garry, as something otherworldly grabs his head from behind and grabs it tight...

_**SNAP!**_

...and then there was nothing more.

One must wonder if things would have been different if Garry had taken a different path. Taken away from reality, and thrusted into what appeared to be a new reality that has resonated in the confines of his mind for much too long, all of it became real...too real for comfort...

...nevertheless, unsuspecting palpability is a dangerous state even in the right frame of mind.

The question now, was would he be able to escape?

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**Please review, your feedback is most appreciative. We will write more one-shots if reader response is great enough.**


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